As at the time of publishing, 2074 cases of COVID-19 had been confirmed in Ghana, 17 people dead and 212 recoveries recorded. The country currently has the highest number of casualties in the West African region, followed closely by Nigeria, with 1932 cases. Ghana’s approach to containing the deadly disease so far is remarkable, although a recent ban lift after a three-week lockdown has caused a 24% spike in number of positive cases.
Ghana is also one of the few African nations testing for coronavirus rigorously and ensuring that contacts of those found positive are traced. So far, more than 110,000 people have been tested, possibly the reason Ghana’s figures tally as the most impacted in the region. The country is recently in the fight and has been introducing more methods and measures to contain the spread
Yesterday, Ghana’s Minister of Communications, Ursula Owusu announced that they have launched the Ghcovid19 symptom tracker which is now available on Goggle and iOS app stores. The app allows Ghanaians to check for symptoms in contrast with the government’s current data on COVID-19 symptoms and behaviours. The tracker also provides resources and tips on how to navigate the pandemic within the country. The service can also be accessed via USSD phones for citizens without smartphones or internet access.
This comes after Kenya’s Ministry Health partnered with Facebook to unveil a Whatsapp bot which helps to share COVID-19 facts to Kenyan residents. The health ministry’s choice to call the app, ‘Yam Phones’ is quite witty and relatable. in Ghana for some reason, dumb-or-feature phones are usually referred to to as ‘Yam Phones’. The service can also be accessed via USSD phones for citizens without smartphones or internet access.
In other news, the Indian Ocean island nation of Comoros has announced its first confirmed case, making it the 53rd of Africa’s 54 countries to report COVID-19. Only the small southern African kingdom of Lesotho has not reported a case of the disease.
